7 Steps for Faster Writing

Do you want to write a great blog post or email in half the time without losing quality - and perhaps even making it better in the procedure?

Here's how:

1: Create an outline. Your outline is your plan, plus it is going to make your entire task easier for 3 reasons:

a) Having a plan diffuses procrastination. When we look at a project our mind tells us it is big - too big. This causes stress, which makes us want to avoid the entire thing. By having a plan, we can break the writing down into manageable, stress free steps.

b) Having a plan keeps you from wandering off topic. In case you've a simple outline to follow, it is just a matter of filling out each section of the outline. But with no plan, you can waste a lot of time writing about things that in the end do not even pertain to your main topic.

c) It makes research super easy. After you have an outline, researching can be as simple as Googling each item in your outline. With no plan, your research can lead you into never-ending time-wasting circles.

2: Once you have got your outline, set it aside for an hour or a day and let it bake in your brain.

By setting it aside, you can let your mind focus on something else. Meanwhile, your subconscious continues to be working on that outline. You will be surprised by what your subconscious gives you. All of a sudden you will realize you left out the most important part, or you also have found a far better way to illustrate your main point.

3: Write every day. Writing, just like anything else, is a skill. The more you do it, the better and faster you'll get.

Write even when you do not 'fee' like it. As Stephen King has said, "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work."

Or as another writer stated, "I wait for inspiration to strike. Fortunately for me, it strikes every day at 9 am."

Even in the event you absolutely, positively DON'T want to write, tell yourself you are going to write for just 15 minutes. Then start writing. You can write anything - anything at all - but you need to write. Pretty soon you will be working in your project and wondering why you were feeling such resistance to something you actually enjoy.

4: Use deadlines in your favor. With no deadline, there's absolutely no stress. With no stress, your brain puts off the task of writing for later. After all, writing takes brain power, effort, thinking and decision making - things your brain would rather put off until later. Or never.

However , when you've a deadline, you've stress to get the job done. The closer the deadline, the more stress. To relieve the stress, you have got to get busy. Now your brain is telling you to, "Write right now!"

If self-imposed deadlines work for you, then you certainly know what to do. If not, youare going to need to find a way to get others to hold you accountable for your deadlines. As an example, telling your blog readers that your next post goes live on Tuesday at 10 am PST should work nicely.

No blog readers yet? Have a friend hold you accountable. Should you not make your deadline, you owe them dinner.

5: Focus on the "feel goods."Back when I had a regular job, I loved my days off. I especially loved them when I knew well in advance they were coming.

But if I found out that morning that I was not working, then half the joy of having time off was gone. There was no anticipation. No looking forward to that day off. Frankly, I felt ripped off if I did not know I was not working until that same morning.

It's possible for you to use this knowledge to self-motivate yourself. Think about how great it is going to feel to hit publish or send. Think about closing the file and doing whatever you love as a reward. Think about the accolades you will receive for finishing the project, or the money you will earn, or whatever it is that motivates you to keep working until you are done.

6: Turn off the internet. Some folks, me included, tend to get distracted by the internet. We think we are going to 'sneak off' for 5 minutes to check Reddit, and an hour later we still have not gotten back to work.

So whenever possible, just disconnect your wifi. Turn off your cell phone. Remove anything else that tends to distract you. And then go to work.

7: Speed up your typing. In the event that you are not able to type at least 50 words per minute, maybe it is time you improved your typing skills.

It is difficult when your thoughts are coming faster than your fingers can tap them out. However, you've options:

- Type faster. There are lots of free and paid courses online that can teach you the way to touch type faster.

- Use a voice to text program for example Dragon Naturally.

- Record yourself and have it transcribed.

Writing by itself is not hard. It is all of the baggage we attach to it that makes it difficult. But if you're able to imagine writing as simply assembling the pieces to a puzzle, you will do it much better and faster.